the university of chicago press recently shut down certain facets of its online book project, seeing no need now that internet search giants include the content of books in their search results.

it's a relatively insignificant move for the university's bibliovault; the 5-year-old project is still functioning as a wholesaler for university presses. but taken in a broader context, the move represents the next phase for anyone using the internet to sell books.

last week, the university of chicago press "decommissioned" its scholar's portal, which served as a sort of test drive center where book buyers could view snippets of the book online. the resources once devoted to this feature will now be used instead to supplement the other bibliovault facets, according to alister gibson, bibliovault's interim manager.

gibson says the impetus was "changes in the marketplace", which to a large degree involves how google inc., yahoo, inc. and microsoft corp. are each in various stages of their own online book projects.

google now lets consumers search through the content of books and then offers a way to purchase them. microsoft and yahoo intend to have a similar feature available sometime soon.

by including the content of books in their search results, internet search engines present an instant global sales mechanism that university presses couldn't hope to build for themselves.

but this development comes with some risks. by partnering with internet search giants, university presses are ceding control over the sales of their books and materials to very powerful companies that do not necessarily have a university's best interests at heart.

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.